Overcoming Hindrances to Sharing our Faith
- INTRODUCTION
Recap: Imperative of Sharing our Faith. Jesus intended for us to share the good news sharer, Fishers of Men (Matt. 4:17)+Go and make disciples of men(Matt. 28:19).
Peter advised the churches of Asia Minor to be ready with an answer when people asked them about their hope (1 Pet. 3:15).
- But it seems like something has gone wrong. Many Christians do not live like fishers of men. Not many people ask us about the hope that we have in Christ, and when they do we’re not really ready to give an answer.
Evangelical churches talk a lot about evangelism, but according to popular surveys and anecdotal impressions most church members don’t share their faith very often.
- WHY DON’T WE EVANGELIZE?
- Churches isolate Christians from unbelievers
2 Cor 6v17 Churches enable this isolation in a couple ways. Many churches run a host of weeknight programs and then define being a good church member in terms of attendance at those programs. As a result, the calendars of many Christians are filled up with church activities and there is little time to have neighbors and co-workers into their homes. The longer we’re in church (and, the higher we climb a church’s leadership ladder), the less likely it is that we’re even connected with the lost world.
Simply put, a lot of Christians don’t know any unbelievers. Though our daily lives put us into regular contact with many people who don’t know Jesus, it’s easy to go through life without having close relationships with any of them.
Bunker Mentality vs Salt Mentality In addition, some congregations cultivate hostility toward the world. As our culture becomes more explicitly hostile to Christianity and biblical morality, it’s easy to allow a bunker mentality to set in. When that happens, the outside world becomes a bogeyman and the way for God’s people to be holy is to keep their distance from it. So Christians live lives on parallel tracks from the world, with their own schools and businesses and sports leagues and scouting programs, but very few chances to build relationships with unbelievers.
- We believe that evangelism is extraordinary
A second reason Christians don’t evangelize is that we believe it’s extraordinary. We suspect that evangelism is only for those who have the gift of evangelism, or for pastors and other professional Christians. And so they simply don’t feel like they are capable of sharing the gospel. After all, in Acts 8:1-4 it’s not the apostles but the “normal” Christians who take the message about Jesus out of Jerusalem and into the wider world.
- Churches don’t talk about the cost of following Jesus
Third, our churches don’t talk about the cost of following Jesus. Yet evangelism will be costly. There’s really no way to tell people that you believe God took on human flesh by being birthed by a virgin and then, after dying on a cross, rose from the dead and soared back up to heaven without at least running the risk of losing their favor. But that’s okay. The apostle Paul says that God intentionally saves us in a way that will seem foolish to the “wise” of our world (1 Cor. 1:18-29). Our message will not be well received by those who are perishing, but will be like a stench in their nostrils (2 Cor. 2:14-16).
read through the book of Acts and just make a note of every time someone shares the gospel and something bad happens to them.
- But many churches never confront their people with the reality that following Christ will cost them. We teach them that God is all about them and their sense of personal wellbeing.So when it comes time to pay the price and share the gospel, many of us simply aren’t willing to lose our reputations.
- We look for immediate results
- Of course, it’s easy to become discouraged about our evangelism. Maybe we read a book or listened to a sermon and went out and shared our faith, only to grow discouraged when nothing visibly happened. I think many Christians have simply given up on evangelism because they made an effort and didn’t see any results. David & Svea Flood, Rick Warren
- It may be that in God’s plan we are supposed to be the first in a long line of people who evangelize a person before they come to Christ.
- He will save souls. He often does not do it according to our timetables, and he may not choose the people we would choose. But he will use us if we are faithful.
- We aren’t clear on the message
- A final reason we don’t evangelize is that we aren’t clear on the message. When someone asks to join our church, one of the things that I ask is for them to briefly summarize the gospel message (think 60 seconds). There’s no way to share the gospel if you aren’t prepared to share the gospel.1Pet 3v15
- Many don’t know what “evangelism” is. When doing church consulting, I ask believers to rate the evangelism in their church. It’s not uncommon for me to hear answers like, “We send a lot of people on mission trips” or “we minister to the homeless downtown.” Both of these ministries are significant (and would likely contribute to evangelism), but they’re not evangelism unless the gospel message is proclaimed.Some churches have provided no evangelism training. I am still surprised by the number of churches that have no intentional, strategic plan to help Christ followers do evangelism. Ideally, of course, believers will naturally talk about Jesus, but even passionate people sometimes need direction and equipping.
6. Fear If you look at many studies about evangelism, you’ll discover that fear is a primary factor that keeps Christians from telling the Good News. Those fears might involve a fear of rejection, a fear of not knowing answers, a fear of others watching our lives more closely if we speak of Christ, or other possibilities. Rom 1v16
7. They’re not really believers/ They’re undiscipled pluralists. . They’ve gone through the motions of following Christ, but without genuinely turning from sin to trust Christ. Non-believers don’t evangelize. Deep down, they believe there are multiple ways to God – and no one has intentionally, clearly shown them otherwise from the Scriptures. Some church members aren’t convinced about lostness. I encourage you to consider doing an anonymous theological survey of your church. I will not be surprised if you find folks who believe that good people might go to heaven apart from a relationship with Christ. Folks who believe that way see no need to do evangelism. Acts 4v12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.Jn 14v6 I am the way, the truth and the life.No one comes to the father but by me.
8. They see no need theologically. They misapply biblical teachings of God’s sovereignty to say that there’s no reason to evangelize in the first place.
9. The church quenched their zeal. They may have been excited to tell others when they first met Christ, but that fire has been long gone. Other unexcited believers helped put it out. We’ve “gotten over” our salvation. When Jesus becomes routine to us—that is, our passion for Him has settled into mediocrity—we won’t readily tell others about Him.
10. They’ve bought in to political correctness. The world says it’s unkind and intolerant to claim only one true way to God.
11. They’re caught in their own sin the struggles of life. They may even be genuinely fighting that sin, but the energy of the battle and the discouragement of defeat keep them from talking about Good News. Sometimes, life’s battles are so intense that it’s tough to think about anything other than surviving the day. Evangelism will have to wait, it seems.
12. Apathy We don’t care about non-believers. I don’t think we can avoid this possibility. If we truly believe that people need a personal relationship with Jesus, but we still keep that message to ourselves, how can we conclude otherwise
CONCLUSION
Today I have focused on Diagnosing the problem, in the upcoming episodes, I will seek to bridge this gap by providing
Why Me?
Jesus expects you to
But, why me? 1. I am a Christian and Christ expects every Christian to bear fruit. (John 15:1-6) a. We are created in Christ Jesus for good works. (Eph. 2:10) As a matter of fact, we are to be “zealous” for them. (Titus 2:14) b. If I am not accomplishing any of the good works for which I was created, of what value am I to the Lord? 2. To express my love for God, Christ and my fellow man. (John 14:15; James 2:14-26) 3. One of the greatest joys a Christian can have is leading another to Christ. (3 John 4) 4. I will be following the example of Jesus. a. He loved people. (John 15:13) b. One of the ways He showed that great love was by personally teaching men and women the truth. (Luke 19:10) 5. Christ commanded me to do it. (Matthew 28:18-20) Those who have been taught and baptized are, in turn, to teach others. 6. To follow the example of the first century Christians who “went everywhere preaching the word.” (Acts 8:4) Not even persecution stopped them from reaching out to those in need of Christ. 7. I will be considered a faithful Christian because faithful children of God are to teach others. (2 Timothy 2:2) 8. Self-preservation. a. Teaching others is vital to my growth and development as a child of God. (Hebrews 5:12-14) b. By constantly teaching others I maintain an interest in spiritual things
Snatch others from hell
https://www.bible.ca/evangelism/e-brent-hunters-evangelism-101.htm
Snsitivity is needed be gentle as doves and wise as serpents
Some basic salvation scriptures John 3:16 Romans 3:23 Romans 10:9-10 Romans 6:23
